


My Boyfriend Is (Not) Back

by FicinaFlash



Series: Wild Iris and The Bear [2]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Crying, Does Iris Know the Reverse Flash Stopped By?, F/M, Friendship/Love, Maybe Alternate Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-05
Updated: 2016-02-05
Packaged: 2018-05-18 08:27:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5913703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FicinaFlash/pseuds/FicinaFlash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Iris reacts to hearing that the Reverse Flash was back in Central City. Barry has a chance to be the superhero he was before becoming the Flash. Before he knew what love was, he was her Bear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Boyfriend Is (Not) Back

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place is a rare private moment between Barry and Iris in Star Labs following the return of the Reverse Flash. As I thought about Iris, I wondered what it would mean to her that the Reverse Flash was back, even temporarily. I don't know how the season will go and if she is supposed to know or not, but I wanted her to have a chance to release some of the grief I imagine her feeling. Barry holding her up is something I am forever here for.

"Barry, what's going on? Where's Cisco? Where's...everyone?" 

Barry's eyes were on the backs of his hands and he rocked slightly where he stood. Dread tickled the fine hairs on the back of her neck. 

"I asked you here to tell you, Iris...the Reverse Flash was here. But he's gone now!" He held his hands down and away from him, as if calming a wild animal. That's how she knew the swirl of disbelief, anger and betrayal must've gathered in her expression in like storm clouds rolling in. 

"I'm not going to keep any more secrets because I'm serious about being here for you, Iris." 

Barry's concerned voice and earnest expression instantly seemed so far away. From the words 'Reverse Flash', Iris felt as though she were free falling from the stories of that building again, only without the assurance of arms to catch her. 

The surprise was sickening, terrifying, like when she miscounted the stairs as a child in the dark. Barry found her then, before Joe. Barry caught her the time after that, at that building with gunshots ringing out behind her. And Barry, thank goodness, held her now. 

The grief that had so shrouded the city in the wake of the singularity slashed her heart anew; pain welled up where she had thought only scar tissue remained. Her stomach soured as she sank to her knees. She tried to ask why, how? But the words were garbled around a painful, dry sob. 

This is how Iris West came to be huddled on the floor of S.T.A.R. Labs with the Flash on his knees before her. 

He had to be using at least some of his speed, she knew. He was near simultaneously rubbing circles into her lower back, stroking her hair, and nodding soothing sounds into the crown of her head. She thought wildly that the Flash is really just Barry. She can't let Bear put the blame on his shoulders again.

"Bear," her voice was strained with the effort of reaching out when everything in her wanted to give up hope. "Bear, you can't protect me from this. It's not your fault." 

"I know. Shhhhh, I know Iris. You're okay. I've got you. You, now. It's your turn." 

How could he sound so submitted to comforting her? As if throwing himself in front of her grief was as important as taking down the next rouge meta human in their way?

"It hurts, Bear. Please, I can't... Not again." 

"Don't beg, Iris, please. I'm already here. I hear you." 

The gentleness in his voice pushed her tears over the edge. The contrast between the relentless agony of grief and equally ruthless compassion she found held in Barry's arms was so bittersweet that she knew she'd never forget the feel of it as long as she lived.

"You don't have to deal with this alone. We'll do this together. The team will. You called me back, remember? Now it's all of us. We'll save them all." 

But they didn't save Eddie. Is this what Barry carried around inside? She sheltered her face in the crook between Barry's neck and shoulder. Anybody could have come along but she was too hurt to do anything else. All she could feel was Bear's heart fluttering, his voice murmuring, his nearness enveloping her. 

Her reporter's instincts, the ones usually clamoring for the who, what, when, why and where were suspiciously silent. As she grabbed a fistful of Bear's shirt she knew he'd tell her when she could stand it. 

She chose not to try to understand how Eddie's sacrifice could have been undone. She also didn't allow herself to wonder what it meant, that her and Barry could have a moment like this. 

She gave herself permission for a few more rare moments of falling apart, knowing that her and Bear would have her put back together as best they could. Just like they always had; as she hoped they always will.


End file.
